Paste: Amy Helm: Trying Her Own Hand

Amy Helm is running late, and she’s embarrassed.

She sounds even more embarrassed when she’s told that her last name—that of her father who was the much-lauded drummer for The Band, Levon Helm—allows her plenty of latitude. Although it would presumably be easy for Helm to confine herself to the music she made with her father and the other players in The Midnight Ramble Band, she doesn’t want that. Neither would her dad, she says.

“I had spent such a long time in both The Midnight Ramble Band and [alt-country band] Ollabelle—both very strong ensemble groups that I really loved—I could feel myself grow into the next level of musicianship,” she says. “And it was time to move onto that level.”